Plain Paradise (19 page)

“You are never gonna believe this.” She turned off the flashlight and blinked her eyes into focus in the dark until Stephen’s handsome face was illuminated by the full moon above them, a spark of mischief in his eyes. “I’m leaving tomorrow to go stay with Josie for two weeks.”

Stephen’s expression soured instantly. “What?”

“Josie’s husband is going out of town for two weeks. At first, I was only going to spend one night, but
Mamm
and
Daed
said I can go stay with her for two weeks, to get to know her.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean, why?”

Stephen shrugged, and even in the darkness, she could see his mouth take on an unpleasant twist. “I don’t know. Seems odd.”

“It’s not odd.” Linda pulled her hand from his. “Why do you say that?”

“Why would you even want to stay with her for two weeks, in the
Englisch
world?”

“I told you. To get to know her.”

Stephen eyed her with a critical squint. “And your parents are allowing this?”

“
Ya
. They are.”

Linda didn’t want to squabble with Stephen about this or put a damper on his visit. “Did you get my note?” She broke into a wide open smile, hoping to lift his mood.

“
Ya
, I did. And I left you another one.”

“
Ach, gut
! I’ll go by and get it on the way to Josie’s tomorrow.” She reached for his hand again. “I really do love your poems, Stephen.”

“I think you’ll really like this one.” He leaned in and kissed her gently on the lips. “I’ll be anxious to hear what you think.” Then he pulled away hastily. “Am I going to see you during these two weeks?”

“Of course. Josie isn’t going to keep me under lock and key. She’ll probably even drive me places, if need be.”

“Okay. Thursday, I get off work early. We could go to the creek and swim?”

Linda couldn’t believe it. Stephen never wanted to go swim at the river. “Sure. That’d be great. What time?”

“I’ll pick you up at four o’clock.” He leaned in and kissed her again, longer this time, as he cupped the nape of her neck. “I want to know what you think about the poem I left you.”

“I will love it, I’m sure.”

“I really hope so.”

Stephen kissed her again, and Linda was certain that everything in her life was going to turn out perfectly.
Mamm
was coming around about Josie, she and Stephen were growing closer, and Linda was about to embark on a two-week adventure filled with fancy bubble baths and air-conditioning.

Tuesday afternoon, Josie was anxious for Linda to arrive, and thankful to be having a headache-free day. She had meatloaf in the oven, and potatoes were peeled and ready for boiling. Robert had called her from the airport before his plane left for China, and she’d assured him that she would be fine while he was away.

“I shouldn’t be going,” he’d told her again. “I don’t want to leave you alone.”

Josie promised to call if there was a problem and told him he could catch the first plane back home, though there usually was nothing to do except take the Vicodin and steroids. Each episode just had to take its course. Josie reached down and rubbed the top of her right hand with her other hand. Still no feeling. It had been that way since yesterday morning, but she knew if she told Robert, he would cancel this important business trip.

She lit two candles in the living room and put on some soft music and hoped Linda would enjoy her overnight stay. Josie had her room all ready. She couldn’t remember a night this important in a very long time. She wanted everything to go perfectly and for Linda to like her, to know her, to have a tiny bit of Josie’s heritage to carry with her in life.

No tears today. Only happy thoughts. She recalled how her headache had gone away on Sunday after Linda prayed with her and how she’d followed up with her own prayer. It didn’t mean there was a God, but perhaps she could allow the possibility to give her a tiny bit of hope. She’d told Robert what had happened, but he’d firmly said that the medicine had just kicked in. He was adamant that God had nothing to do with anything. “I wish there were such a being, Josie,” he’d said. “I wish that more than anything on this earth, but you know I just don’t believe that. But, Josie, you need to believe what’s right for you. Don’t let my beliefs interfere.”

Josie found that interesting, since Robert had always given up a hundred arguments to any point she’d made about God early in their relationship. Eventually, she’d had to admit that Robert’s point of view made much more sense than hers. But with her own mortality hanging in the balance, she wished there was something to believe in. She needed hope. As she felt the knot forming in her throat, she shook her head. “No, not today,” she said aloud.

A loud knock interrupted her thoughts, and she hurried to the door and pulled it open.

“Wow. That’s a lot of luggage for one night.” She smiled at Linda who was standing on the doorstep with two fairly large suitcases. Mary Ellen was turning the buggy around, and Josie waved, but Mary Ellen didn’t see her.

Linda awkwardly cleared her throat. “Actually,
Mamm
and
Daed
said I can stay for the whole two weeks.” Linda tucked her chin. “I probably should have asked you first.”

“Oh my gosh! No! Are you kidding? Get in here, you!” Josie grabbed one of the suitcases and motioned Linda in. “I’m so excited. This is going to be great.”

Linda’s face lit up, and she scooted in the door. “I smell meatloaf.”

“Yep! Just for you.” Josie thought she might burst.
Two whole weeks
with my daughter. Thank you, God!
The thought came out of nowhere, but it seemed fitting to thank someone, anyone, for this wonderful luck. “I can’t wait to tell Robert when he calls that you are staying for the entire two weeks. We are going to have so much fun.” Linda followed her through the den and to the stairs. “Follow me upstairs, and I’ll show you your room.”P

Linda followed Josie up the stairs and down a long hallway, until they got to a door at the end on the right.

“This is your room. It’s right across from my room, in case you need anything.” Josie walked inside and set the suitcase she was carrying down before motioning for Linda to come in.

“This is the room I’ll be staying in?” Linda gasped as she set her other suitcase down. She brought both hands to her chest as she took in her living quarters for the next two weeks. “I’ve never seen such a bed.” She walked to the large bed in front of her, topped with a floral bedspread in shades of ivory and rose, and there were four large satin throw pillows resting against two pillows in rose-colored shams. It was too fancy to touch, and Linda couldn’t believe she would be sleeping here. She glanced up at the ivory sheer draped over four large posts on each corner of the bed. It peaked in the middle, forming an arch above the bed, like something a princess would sleep in.

Linda moved toward a piece of furniture in the corner. A hairbrush and hand mirror rested atop the off-white finish, along with a crystal vase filled with bright red roses, the kind Mr. Buckley sold at the flower shop in town, ones that were especially big. Ivory-colored walls were topped with a border consisting of three different shades of roses, and lacy curtains covered two windows. Next to the bed was a small end table with a white lamp. A pink alarm clock and a Bible were on the table next to a telephone.

Josie moved toward a six-drawer dresser along one of the walls, also painted an off-white shade, and pulled open the first drawer. “These are all empty. You can put some of your clothes in here.” She pointed to the closet. “The closet is empty as well.”

Linda glanced around the room and noticed the television suspended from the wall in the corner of the room. A white rocking chair occupied the other corner of the room. She was afraid to touch anything.

“I hope you like roses.” Josie smiled. “I love roses, and I was hoping you did, too, when I started decorating this room for you.”

“You decorated this room for
me
?”

Josie nodded, then walked to the closet and swung the door wide. Linda was pretty sure the closet was as big as her entire bedroom at home. “This is probably more room than you need, but every woman should have a big closet.”

Linda stared at the couch against the wall across from the dresser. It was an odd-shaped couch, with only half a back that swayed downward, covered in a velvety-looking light pink fabric.

“That’s a chaise longue.” Josie walked toward the piece of furniture, then sat down. “If you lean back like this, you can see the television really well from here.” She twisted her neck back toward the bed. “But you can see it just as well from the bed.”

Linda eyed the flat, square television in the corner and wondered if it had a controller to change the channels, like at her
Englisch
friends’ houses. Her eyes veered back to the table by the nightstand, and sure enough, there was a television controller beside the alarm clock.

“Do you like the room?” Josie bit her bottom lip.

“Like it? I love it, Josie. I’ve never seen anything like this.” She ran her hand along the delicate bedspread and wondered what it was going to feel like to be wrapped up in the covers with the princess dome overhead. With the television on. She turned around and faced Josie. “
Danki
, Josie, for making this such a beautiful room and for inviting me to come stay with you.”

Josie moved toward her and smiled. “You are very welcome.” She turned toward the door. “I’ll tell you what. Why don’t I go finish dinner, and if you’d like, you can take a bath, and then we’ll eat, curl up on the couch, and just make it like a slumber party and talk. There’s a bathroom down the hall.” Josie pointed to her left. “Or, even better, if you’d like to take a bath in our room, there is a big Jacuzzi tub you can soak in.”

“
Ya, ya
. I’d like that.” Linda didn’t even try to contain her excitement. She’d been fantasizing about taking a bath down the hallway, with the big tub, phone, and television set.
But Josie’s bathroom
is probably even grander
.

“Great. Come on. Follow me. I’ll show you where everything is.”

Linda crossed the hallway behind Josie, and suddenly her own quarters seemed modest in comparison to Josie’s bedroom, if that was possible. Josie’s bed angled from a corner of the room and reminded Linda of a sled, the way the base of the bed curved at the bottom. It was much larger than the bed in Linda’s room and was covered with a dark blue bedspread and topped with lots of white lacy pillows. Everything in this room was made of dark wood, which made it all seem so formal. There was an entire sitting area off to one side with high-back chairs and a full-sized couch. Why did anyone need all this den furniture in a bedroom?

She wanted to keep looking around Josie’s room, study the big framed pictures of landscapes on the wall and the smaller ones of people on her dresser, but she followed Josie into the bathroom.

This is no bathroom
. She didn’t even see a commode. This room was surely larger than her bedroom at home.

“There are towels in the cabinet.” Josie pointed to her left, but Linda could hardly take her eyes from the tub, which she reckoned would hold four people if need be.

“That’s some bathtub.” Linda eyed the massive, bronzed faucets and water spigots all inside the white enclosure.

Josie walked to the tub, turned the faucet on, then pointed to some buttons on the side of the tub. “You can adjust the jets however you like. Just push these buttons when the tub gets full.” She walked to the marble counter and pulled a pretty blue basket full of bottles and tubes toward her. “And there are bubble baths, lotions, and all kinds of goodies in here. Just help yourself to anything.”

Linda recalled the baths at her house, lit by lantern if she didn’t beat Matt and Luke to bathe in the evenings. Soaps and shampoo that she and
Mamm
made on a regular basis. The small battery-operated fan to keep the sweat from building the minute you stepped from the claw-foot bathtub onto the brown rug. Creaky wooden floor, gas heater in the wintertime, and always, no matter the season, the same towel all week long.

“Here’s the remote for the television.” Josie handed the channel changer to Linda. “You should have plenty of time to take a nice soak before I finish dinner.” Josie smiled. “Linda, I’m so glad you’re here.”